The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
It is not Tony Coppola or the Governor’s or the Chairman or even the USPA, Hurlingham or the UK Polo network. It is the face of polo today and it is one man. He does not even come from America and he is not Adolfo, who we all know as polo people, but the one the World knows and is putting Polo where it has never been is NACHO FIGUERAS. Figueras is a 7-goal polo player who means more for the sport than any patron or corporation. Polo is known as the Sport of Kings. Polo really is the “‘King of Sports” and Figueras is the KING.
If you watched 60 minutes on Sunday night, April 8th, (if you did not go to 60 minutes on the Internet and watch the replay) you will understand why I say this if you do not ,then go away from the sport . I have been in the sport since 1975 and have seen many faces save a piece of it all here in the U.S. From the 70’s it was Paul Butler and Mr Uhilien who kept it moving and along came John T Oxley and Bill Ylvisacker , Steve Gose and Peter Brant and at the end of the 90’s things looking sad here comes Ski and Skeeter Johnston along with John Goodman … Holy Cow here comes the big time international people from around the globe. Teams like Outback and Tim Gannon, Crab Orchard and George Rawlins, Lechuza and Victor Vargas of Venezula, Camilio Bautista of Brazil and Las Monjitas the famous Gery Packard’s Ellerston from Australia. Out West in the U.S it was Carlton Beal and Fred Mannix leading the charge for decades. Today we have Al Haagan. He is building a monster polo facility in the West which will get worldwide attention soon. As much as these men and many others have done for polo, Nacho Figueras has done as much. He is not a patron or a corporation. Figueras is a young 7- goal player with the art of communication seldom seen in any sport. He is similar to Bubba or Phil of the golf world. Figueras is somewhere every week working for our sport and it is happening because he cares about growing polo. Owen Rinehart was for several years America’s best player and he got more International press on Sunday night than his entire career as a prime time player and all because of Nacho Figueras.
I remember years ago when I got a very wise man named Brian Murphy into Polo. He was a very athletic 40+ year old man. Murphy said polo is out of this world and he said the problem with Polo is nobody knows what it is. It is fun, it is dangerous and it is fast! People dont now the work it takes to do it, the thrill and the time involved. Now people are finding out and we have Figueras to thank for it.! My hat is off to him.
My theory about U.S. polo is simple. How it went from the best to well quite a ways down the ladder.
In the 20’s and before polo was the Sport of Kings as only the wealthy played polo. Henry Ford stopped that. He brought out the automobile and the wealthy kids got cars … so why ride a horse. So they did not ride. After a generation Pop had no one to play with so he said to his trainer or groom saddle up and soon the neighbor did the same. In the 40’s pros were born. There were not a lot, but they were needed and they were there, but the best polo had moved away from the U.S. In England polo got huge and many people from the wars ended up in Argentina. They brought the game with them and it grew in leaps with old families, new blood and money. By the 50’s, Polo in Argentina and Mexico had become a rival with the U.K. and it just kept growing. In Argentina polo it competes with Soccer as a national sport. That is why kids growing up in Argentina want to be polo players and it is why seldom does an American kid say I want to be a polo player unless he is born in it. The reason … first he will never see it and he may never hear of it. This will change with Nacho Figueras marketing and promoting polo. It already has.
These are just my thoughts!
Thanks Nacho!!!!!
-Steve Crowder